Awesome Meal Preparation Ideas:
Quick, Tasty, And Easy
If you're trying to lose weight...
...then you know how important it is for you to have food readily available that aligns with your goals.
So, I've put together this guide so you'll be equipped with food choices that are tasty but also help you lose weight.
Part of eating healthy and dieting successfully is having food prepared ahead of time.
Essentially meal prepping consists of several things that make it possible to eat healthier and even lose weight like cooking, packaging, and storing meals for the week.
Meal prepping includes a bit of work for each step, but it is rewarding in so many ways.
It can be done for every meal: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
You can even plan your snacks for the day to ensure that you are getting the best options.
Below are a few ideas for weight loss to help you get started, stay on track, and choose healthier options.
Before you can start meal prepping for yourself, there are a few things that you should keep in mind and gather to make the process a bit easier.
First, I want you to tell yourself that you can do it.
Meal prepping can put a bit of stress on you when you first begin, but it doesn’t have to be.
Just keep your head up and tell yourself that you can do it. When you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything.
Now, I want you to grab a notebook, a pen, and your favorite comfortable seat because I’m about to help you get started with your meal prep journey and give you a few tips for keeping yourself sane while you navigate these waters.
We’re going to make lists, find inspiration, and more.
Are you ready?
Make a List
One of the best tips that I can give you to ensure a successful and fun meal prepping time is to make a list.
Sure, that seems a little ridiculous at first, but I can assure you that making a list will save you time at home and in the grocery store.
Start your list by thinking of all the things you enjoy a meal. This can be any meal as well.
Take your list of ideas and narrow them down according to their health benefits. For some people, this can be a little difficult, but it is mostly about finding balanced foods for each meal.
Your lists can include many different things, and I even have a few examples to help you get started on your own set of lists:
Listing different food choices and items is a great way for you to visually see what sort of foods are ideal for your dieting journey.
Grocery lists and recipe lists are always a great way to ensure that you are getting what you need for each week.
You can save money and save time just by writing down a few things before you head to the store.
Plus, you are less likely to be tempted by sweets and snacks that are less than healthy for you.
In addition to all of your planning lists, you can also keep track of things that work for you, recipes you enjoy, and other things.
These lists are helpful when you are looking for various things to try.
You can even keep them all in one notebook in your kitchen, which is a great way to keep track of your planning, your shopping, and your budget as well.
Trust me, that notebook that I wanted you to grab in the beginning is going to come in handy while you start your journey.
Cooking Ahead of Time
Part of preparation is in fact, cooking.
You don’t want to simply dine on microwavable meals all the time, but you still want something that is easy enough to prepare when you get home from work each night.
Learning to cook ahead of time is a great way to make eating healthier much less stressful.
For breakfast and snacks, cooking ahead of time isn’t always an option.
However, a great way to be prepared is to simply have a quick idea of what you want for your meal.
Eggs, oatmeal, and other items usually only take a few minutes to prepare anyway.
Part of breakfast and snack ideas comes from the shopping and planning of your meals.
With breakfast, you might try writing down Monday through Sunday, then plan out a breakfast option or two for each day.
Ensure that you have those ingredients, and you then have options for a delicious and nutritious breakfast before you head to work.
The real part of cooking in advance comes when lunch and supper roll around. Lunch is a meal in which you should try to cook in advance.
Preparing chicken, rice, turkey, and more is a great way to ensure that you are getting nutrients for lunch each day, even if you work in the office.
A great thing about cooking your lunch in advance is that you can store each meal in a separate container, keep it in your fridge, and simply grab a container before you head out to work each day.
You can heat your lunch up in the microwave for a nutritious option even at the office.
Dinner can be a little trickier since many people enjoy eating various options for their final meal of the day. There are several things that you can do to cook ahead of time.
Crockpot meals, soups, and other options are great for certain dinners.
You can also go the same route as lunch by preparing your dinners ahead of time to ensure that you have plenty of time for various activities after work.
Preparing dinner ahead of time helps with making sure that you have all the ingredients you need to fix your ideal meal.
Focus On One Meal At A Time
When it comes to meal prep, it can be a pretty difficult mountain to climb.
However, it doesn’t have to be stressful, and one way that you can eliminate unnecessary stress is to focus on a single meal at a time.
For many, dinner is the easiest meal to begin prepping and changing into healthier options.
If you are like these people, then begin your journey by putting your focus on dinner.
Start making lists for shopping and finding recipes for healthy meals. You can try finding better, more organic ingredients, and even focus on cooking instead of just eating out all the time.
Focusing on a single meal helps you get into the practice of preparing and planning for your meals ahead of time.
It can also help you save money and stay on track with your diet and weight loss goals.
Once you have accomplished the task of planning and prepping successfully for a single meal, you can start adding a second meal.
Perhaps, you could begin planning your lunches for work by making a shopping list, cooking at the beginning of the week, and separating everything for ease.
The cycle can continue until you are meal planning for all the meals and snacks of the day.
A great cycle to follow is this:
After you have gotten the hang of planning for, cooking for, and preparing a meal each week, you can begin to add other meals.
This will include adding items to your grocery list, budget, and recipe list as well.
Find Inspiration
There are many things in life when inspiration can be motivating and encouraging. Meal prepping and planning is one of those times when inspiration is extremely useful.
There are various places where you can find inspiration for meal prepping as well, and they are useful for various reasons.
Blogs can be a great source for finding ideas for weight loss or inspiration in general.
Through blogs, various health and wellness people use their own experience to give tips, post recipes, and more.
Blogs are often shared on social media or through e-mail subscriptions, making it easy for you to keep up with your favorite bloggers and their own, personal journey.
Blogs are also a great place to find the real struggles and successes of people who are on the same journey as yourself, which can be a huge motivation and inspiration on your weight loss journey.
Magazines are not quite as popular as they used to be, but there are still many great meal planning and prep ideas between the covers of a magazine.
If you are choosing to find inspiration in a magazine, you can use both physical magazines and digital magazines.
Digital magazines can be found on the magazine company’s website, and they often post blogs and other articles to help people find inspiration.
Social media is by far the biggest source of inspiration out there. Through various social media sites, like Pinterest and Instagram, you can follow various health and wellness sites who are always sharing tips and tricks for navigating the difficult weight loss and healthy eating journey.
YouTube is a great platform for those who are visual. I know for a fact that many people love to watch others in their homes before beginning to do it on their own. Just like I showed you in the video above.
Final Thoughts On Planning Meals For Weight Loss
Eating healthy and losing weight are terms thrown around quite a bit, but when you begin to put those words into motion, it can seem like a difficult journey altogether.
With the tips above, you can get started with your journey a little at a time.
Instead of jumping in too quickly and getting stressed, you can handle your cooking with grace and ease, and you might even find yourself living a happier and healthier life with more time to spend with family and more money for other things in life.
Hope you've found this article helpful. If so, please hit the share button and let your friends know. I'd appreciate it!
Talk soon,
CC Matthews
Transformation Coach/Pizza Lover